Black Tie Mousse Cake
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This is the Dessert Now version of my Valentine’s Date Night idea for you all, because we want our dessert first right?
When my husband & I go to Olive Garden & haven’t eaten too much, we will typically share a dessert, & it is always, hands down, the Black Tie Mousse Cake. But who really wants to spend that much money on one slice of cake? Not me! So I altered this at home version.
This cake is slightly time consuming, but worth every second. Plus, it is so rich that it will take you a while to finish it, & since it is kept in the freezer, that is no problem! The perfect decadent chocolate dessert to serve your lover for Valentine’s Day.
Black Tie Mousse Cake
Ingredients
Layer 1: Chocolate Genoise Cake (Crust)
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large or extra large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/3 cup dutch baking cocoa
- 1/2 cup flour
Layer 2: NO BAKE Chocolate Cheesecake
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup dutch baking cocoa
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Layer 3: NO BAKE Cheesecake
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Layer 4: Dark Chocolate/White Chocolate Ganache:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 10-12 oz (1 bag) dark chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
- Nestle mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- LAYER 1 CAKE: Preheat oven to 350*F. Lightly grease a 9" springform pan.
- In a medium bowl cream butter & sugar with a hand mixer. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla & mix well. Sift cocoa & flour & add to mixture, until combined. Batter will be thick, but light & fluffy; not pourable, but easily spreadable.
- Bake cake at 350*F for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the cake. Remove from oven & cool completely; may even use the freezer to speed process along.
- LAYER 2 NO BAKE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE: In a bowl, beat cream cheese with sugar until incorporated. Add cocoa & blend well. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer whisk heavy cream until it starts to get fluffy. Add powdered sugar a little at a time. Whisk until stiff peaks are achieved. (**May do the whipped cream mixtures for both cheesecake layers together at the same time in your mixer & then divide in half evenly.)
- Add whipped cream to the chocolate mixture & beat until well combined. Cover bowl & put in refrigerator.
- LAYER 3 NO BAKE CHEESECAKE: In a bowl, beat cream cheese with sugar until incorporated. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer whisk heavy cream until it starts to get fluffy. Add powdered sugar a little at a time. Whisk until stiff peaks are achieved. (**This step may have already been done if you did it the same time as the whipped cream for the chocolate cheesecake.)
- Add whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture & beat until well combined. Cover bowl & put in refrigerator.
- ASSEMBLE FIRST 3 LAYERS: Once cake is cooled you may run a knife along the edges & release the spring-form edge to help ensure it's ability to release after all the layers are complete. If you release the edge, put the edge back on & then continue with the layers.
- Spread the chocolate cheesecake mixture evenly over the cooled chocolate cake.
- Spread the plain cheesecake mixture evenly over the chocolate cheesecake mixture.
- Cover pan with saran wrap (try not to let it touch the cheesecake) & freeze for 4-6 hours in the freezer.
- After the cake is frozen. Use a warm offset spatula to run along the edge of the pan & remove the spring-form edge. (Keep cake on the base.)
- GANACHES: Put dark & white chocolate chips in separate bowls.
- In a small saucepan on LOW, heat heavy cream & butter until it just comes to a boil.
- Measure 3-4 Tbsp of the cream/butter mixture & put it on top of the white chocolate chips. Pour remaining butter/cream mixture over the dark chocolate chips. Let cream melt chocolate chips & then stir them up in their separate bowls. Let the ganache cool slightly until spreading consistency.
- Using a cooling rack placed on a cookie sheet, set cake on cooling rack (the ganache that falls off the cake will be caught in the cookie sheet, underneath the cooling rack) & pour dark chocolate ganache over the top of the cake; spread evenly with an offset spatula.
- When the chocolate drips over the edges, smooth the ganache with your spatula & immediately apply mini chocolate chips to the sides before the ganache hardens from the frozen cake. Continue around all sides of the cake saving extra dark chocolate ganache to swirl with the white ganache on top & enough to pipe a border for the edges.
- Once the cake is ganached & chocolate chips decorate the sides, drizzle the white chocolate ganache on the top. Add small dollups of dark chocolate ganache (saving enough to pipe a border on the edges) & using a toothpick/knife swirl the two ganaches together.
- Use the remaining dark chocolate ganache to pipe a border around the edge, once the ganache has set/thickened a little bit, but still soft enough to work with.
- Store cake in freezer. Cut & enjoy cake frozen.
30 Comments on “Black Tie Mousse Cake”
I searched high and low for a recipe for Black Tie Mousse Cake that was simple and this came out very good. It reminded me more of a full cheesecake rather than a ‘mousse’ cake but that’s no issue – I do recommend that you freeze it JUST as the directions say, until it is served. Mine thawed a bit before we got to cut into it and it was very soft and just barely held together. Tasted great, looked beautiful and was so so rich! Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks Jeni! I’ve debated on re-doing this to a real ‘mousse’ cake, but I’m glad you enjoyed this variation!
My sister mentioned that she wanted a “tuxedo” cake and this is the kind of cake she meant. She figured if it happened, we would have bought one from the store. Not even close 😊. I did a Google search for something that looked right and this one jumped out. So I started making it and got to the gnaches before I realized that this cake was meant to stay frozen 😲 I finished swirling the top and shoved it back in before things could go sideways! Never actually froze, it just moved slower when it was cold, haha!
Made a great surprise for her sweet 16.
I’m glad it worked out! Thanks for your comment!
Made this for my daughters birthday. I had a few issues but all in all it was a fantastic cake and so much fun making it!
I’m glad you got it to work out! Thanks for stopping by to leave your review!
Just wanted to say another thank you. I now have multiple requests to make this cake for others. This has to have been the best cake ever. I was initially concerned because my whipped mix never got to stiff peaks, but the end product was phenomenal. It not only looked beautiful but the balance between chocolate and non chocolate was perfect. Looking forward to trying more of the recipes on your site!
Oh wow! That’s so great! Thanks Natalie! I hope you find more recipes to love!
I’ve made your recipe several times, always a hit! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for coming back to share your review!